Suspect Arrested in 1977 Murder of Teenager in Hawaii
Susie Chun Oakland, a sophomore at McKinley High School in Honolulu, arrived at school on March 21, 1977, to find a crime scene. The body of 16-year-old Dawn Momohara was discovered on the second floor of the English building, with an orange cloth tightly wrapped around her neck. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
The murder sent shockwaves through the close-knit community, with many residents afraid and feeling a sense of vulnerability. The case went cold, with authorities unable to identify a suspect for decades.
On Tuesday, Gideon Castro, 66, a McKinley High School graduate, was arrested at a Utah nursing home where he lived. Castro was charged with second-degree murder after DNA testing helped identify him nearly 50 years later.
According to authorities, Castro had previously told police he knew the victim, and DNA testing not available in the 1970s helped identify him. Castro’s DNA was matched to a sample taken from Dawn’s shorts, which had been stored as evidence.
Dawn’s mother last heard from her daughter the day before she was found dead, and the teen had received a call from an unknown male that Sunday morning. It was not clear whether Dawn made it to a shopping center with friends as she had planned.
Detectives interviewed friends, family, and acquaintances in the days after Dawn’s murder, but were unable to identify a suspect at the time. The case remained cold until 42 years later, when cold case detectives began making headway in the investigation following analysis of evidence from Dawn’s shorts and underwear.
In 2023, investigators received information that Castro or his brother could be potential suspects, and detectives learned where the brothers were living. A DNA sample obtained from one of Castro’s children cleared his brother, and attention turned to Gideon Castro.
Castro was arrested at 7:40 a.m. Tuesday at a Utah nursing home, where he had been living. Chun Oakland, who was a sophomore at McKinley High School when Dawn was killed, expressed a mix of emotions about the case being resolved, but was glad that Dawn’s family could have closure.
